


Summertime Blues

by dracox_serdriel



Series: Another Chance at the Brass Ring, or Season 9 Fan Fiction [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: A Little More Human, A Normal Life, Alternate Season/Series 09, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angel Tablet, Angels, Angels are Dicks, Assassins & Hitmen, Being a Prophet Sucks, Brotherly Bonding, Bunker Fic, Canon-Typical Violence, Castiel & Sam Winchester Friendship, College, Destiel - Freeform, Domestic Castiel, Don't Mess with a Tran, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fizzle's Folly, Gen, Hunter Tweens, Hunters, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker, Mild Language, Monster of the Week, Monsters, New Jersey, On the Run, Princeton University, Promises, Shapeshifters - Freeform, Slash, emancipation, family matters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-12
Updated: 2013-04-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 05:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracox_serdriel/pseuds/dracox_serdriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After closing the Gates of Hell, Kevin Tran tries to get his life back. At the same time, the Winchesters catch a case in spite of a demon-free world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Postmark

**Author's Note:**

> **Canon spoilers** : This may contain spoilers from any and all canon episodes of Supernatural through 08x20 "Pac-Man Fever."
> 
>  **Prequel episodes** : [Trials of Hell and Heart, or Season 8 Fan Fiction](http://archiveofourown.org/series/53569) (S8FF)
> 
>  **THEN**  
> [09x00 Never a Last Stand](http://archiveofourown.org/works/922512/chapters/1792147)  
>  After Sam slammed the Gates of Hell forever, Dean and Cas finally connected as the new world order began. But with the Heavenly Host wanting Castiel dead and Leviathans resurfacing in Idaho, the Winchesters learned that their retirement isn't quite on the horizon yet.

Krissy Chambers and her foster-brother Aiden walked home on a blissful Tuesday afternoon. He rushed ahead to unlock the door while she popped open the mailbox.

"Jo left a note!" Aiden yelled from the door. "She'll be back at four! Family meeting!"

"Got it!" Krissy shouted back.

Josephine, before foster-sister and now legal guardian, only requested family meetings when something important came up. Before Krissy had time to wonder what it was, she spotted a large manila envelop for Jo from Princeton.

Her jaw dropped. She didn't know - she couldn't know - that not far from where she was, Linda Tran opened her mail to find a similar envelop for her son, Kevin.

 

Castiel had observed humans for a long time and had spent more time among them than any other angel, except perhaps Gabriel. He had learned a great deal from spending time with Sam and Dean Winchester. And while he had acquired some social skills, or at least an understanding of them, he realized that his two closest human companions hadn't given him true insight on humanity, what with their drifting, motel-living, fast-food-eating ways.

This particular revelation came in the meat and poultry isle, where silhouettes of cows, pigs, and chickens hung over packaged cuts of meat. Cas wondered why humans would put the image of a cow over slices of steak and ground up beef after spending millennia de-associating meat from the animals they slaughtered, which led to developments like calling it 'steak' instead of 'hunk of cow.' 

"Cas, com'on," Sam said from the canned food isle. 

Having no need for food, the angel considered the entire scenario superfluous, but Dean insisted on 'showing Cas the ropes,' which for some reason included the grocery store.

"We need spices," Sam offered as Cas joined the brothers in the isle. "Can you get some from the cooking isle?" 

Sam handed the angel a list. This, for the most part, was an act of trust. 

The angel found this particular ritual very strange. The list included Cinnamon, Parsley, Basil, Red Pepper, Black Pepper, and Chile Pepper Powder. He could easily zap around the world to collect these, yet here he was in the Super Saver in Kansas.

"The cooking isle?" Castiel asked Sam. 

"Yeah, we just need a shaker of each."

Cas obliged.

Otherwise the trip was uneventful. Sam and Dean seemed very excited about food, so he attempted to be supportive. 

They had to walk for several minutes to reach the car because Dean insisted on parking the Impala in a shady spot outside the lot.

"Grocery stores are full of kids," he explained, "and parents. And all those carts... no, I won't let them ding my baby." 

Dean literally shuddered at the thought. Castiel wondered how a man who suffered for forty years in Hell could be shaken by a scratch of paint. Whatever the reason, the angel found it endearing.

They finished loading the trunk with groceries, and the neon sign nearest the Impala flickered out. Cas immediately sensed danger. 

He spun around. He saw nothing. 

"What's up?" Sam asked.

"I – I thought – " Castiel began, but he realized that he had been on edge for weeks, ever since Naomi tried to kill him, so maybe he was overreacting now. "It's nothing."

Dean spotted an old man pushing a cart nearby. The trouble was, that guy hadn't been there a moment ago.

"Cas, let's go," Dean said. "Now."

Too late. 

The man, who looked about eighty, drew an angel blade and leapt at Castiel, successfully landing the weapon into his shoulder. Dispassionately, Cas threw the assailant back with a palm-heel strike to the chest. As the elderly man flew away, Cas held tight to the hilt of the blade sticking out of his arm, so when the other angel stood up, he was unarmed. 

"Go," Castiel ordered. 

"I don't take orders from you!" snapped old-man-angel.

"No, just that bitch Naomi," Dean said. 

The Hunter pulled the blade out of Castiel's arm and asked, "You okay, Cas?"

"No, actually, I'm here because Castiel is a disgrace." For an old man, he had a particularly nasty bite in his words. 

Dean advanced on the other angel, but Cas stopped him.

"Dean, don't. He's unarmed. Let him go."

"But – "

"He's unarmed," Cas repeated. "Even with a blade he won't succeed."

"Is that right?" taunted the other angel. 

"Yes it is, Tamandriel," spat Castiel. "Go!"

"No promises," said the old man.

A flutter of wings, and he was gone. 

Sam said, "What the hell was – "

His phone interrupted him.

Dean's phone rang, too.

"That can't be a good sign," Dean remarked.

"Hey, Garth," Sam answered into his phone, "we're kinda busy here..."

Krissy had texted Dean: "Call me back soon. Not life / death but important."

"We should go," Castiel said to Dean as he healed his own shoulder. "More angels may be coming."

"Don't have to tell me twice." 

They got into the car and peeled out. For the first few minutes of ride, Dean kept asking Castiel about the angel attack and Sam continuously hushed him, trying to keep up with Garth.

Finally, Sam hung up the phone and said, "We need to get to Missouri. Garth is having a meltdown."

"Is it Kevin?" Cas asked.

"Kevin and Krissy and Aiden and Jo."

Dean turned his head slightly to hear better, "Krissy and – wait, you mean the Apple Dumpling Gang we – "

"Yeah, them," Sam interrupted. 

"Okay, we'll drop the groceries and Cas off at the bunker," Dean said.

"What?" Cas asked.

"You were just attacked in broad daylight by a ninety-five-year-old man-angel," Dean replied. "You're on lock-down."

"How did he even find you? Through us?" Sam asked.

"Us? We've got anti-angel tagging on our ribs."

"I added those to my vessel as well," said Cas. "They shouldn't have been able to find me."

"Good, you sit and meditate on how Tamandy boy – "

Cas corrected him, "Tamandriel."

"Whatever. Figure out how he zeroed in on you from the bunker, where no one can see, hear, or anything you. Okay?"

"But if Kevin is in trouble – "

Sam jumped in, "We'll call for help. Promise."

"And by call he means cell phone. No zapping anywhere."

Castiel sulked.

"Good," Dean said.


	2. Shelter

Kevin Tran, Prophet of the Lord and the Sole Keeper of the Word on Earth, paced in a threadbare t-shirt, old khaki shorts, and mismatched socks. 

When he first moved in, the Safe House Boat seemed like refuge. Hell, it was a palace compared to the drafty, spoiled places he resorted to hiding in while on the run. But spending over six months inside a tiny metal tube had made him miserable and then crazy.

So, even though demons wanted to kidnap him, Kevin made a break for it, only to be captured for his trouble. All because he wanted to sprint to the end. He was desperate to slam the Gates of Hell shut as quickly possible because that was his way off this stupid boat and back to his life.

Yet, somehow, here he was again. 

After Castiel rescued him, he and his mom kept on the run, living in a supernaturally warded trailer driving cross-country. They moved from hunter to hunter for added safety. At least his mother was with him.

But now, now he was back on this damn boat, back in his own personal Purgatory, pacing in cloths he should have replaced last year. 

His musings were interrupted by the sound of people coming aboard.

"Kevin?" his mother called. "I've got lunch!"

He opened the main cabin door to let her in.

"Great thanks Mom," he said.

She had brought pizza, which seemed a glorious luxury. This made him feel both elated and despondent, a dichotomy Kevin had grown accustomed to.

"I've got good news," Linda Tran said. "I found a house off-campus. It's perfect."

"You think you can convince them to let me go?" 

"We don't have to ask anyone. No more demons. No more kidnapping."

"But there're still monsters and angels," Kevin replied as he set the table with paper plates and napkins. "And I... I don't think we should burn bridges, you know?"

She sized her son up. "You do want to go, right?"

"More than anything, I want out of here... and I want Princeton."

"Okay, then we'll make it happen."

His mother pulled out a real estate file as they started in on the pizza.

"Whoa, Mom! Five bedrooms? Really?"

"Six if you count the third-story room. The people who owned it were prepping for the end times or whatever they're calling it these days. They added a bomb shelter to the basement."

"That's what you were looking for? A place in New Jersey with a bunker?" 

Linda laughed. "No, that was just a bonus. I was looking for four, preferably five, bedrooms."

Kevin gulped down the pizza as his mind filled with confusion. He had no siblings, and his mother never allowed houseguests for more than a few nights. She hadn't bothered with a proper guest bedroom since his grandmother died five years ago. So why the sudden need for half a dozen bedrooms? Was she adopting six new sons?

"Why so many bedrooms?" he asked.

"Eat your pizza, Kevin."

The groan of the ship told them that someone else had arrived. The arguing told them it was Sam, Dean, and Garth, as all three voices carried down to the hold.

"Dean, you can't be serious!" barked Sam.

"Damn right I am," Dean snapped. "With angels on his ass, Cas can't watch out for them. We can't just cut him loose!"

"I hear ya," Garth interrupted. "But I don't know of any hunters who can give up everything and sit around in New Jersey, Dean."

The three men finally pushed through the door to find Kevin and his mother eating.

"Hey, Ms. Tran," said Sam. "Kevin."

The conversation that ensued could be likened to a monsoon. Bright, arid climate became humid and dark, with howling winds and hints of danger. Then suddenly buckets of crap fell from the sky, with thunder and lightning for effect. Dean's cell phone kept ringing every ten minutes.

"Closing the Gates of Hell," repeated Kevin. "That was my way out of this, out of here!"

Nothing Sam or Dean could say about his safety, about reality, seemed to matter. His personal mantra kept him strong. 

Then Ms. Tran stepped in.

"My son is going to Princeton. Three hunters have already contacted me and made arrangements. Two will live off campus with me, and the other will be on campus with Kevin. They'll have rooms at the house, too," she said. 

"Three hunters?" Sam asked. 

"Oh, right, didn't I mention? Krissy found out about Kevin," Garth said.

Sam and Dean shot Garth a look that made him flinch. 

"My bad, I was trying to be, ya know, personable. Anyway, they, uh, all want to go to New Jersey too," Garth said. Then he asked Linda, "Guess they called you?"

"They did."

"And how did they do that, Garth?" Sam asked. 

Sheepishly, Garth responded, "I think Aiden picked my pocket and took one of my phones."

"No, hell no! You can't set up a bunch of tween hunters and a prophet and his mother in New Jersey and expect everything to be okay!" Dean said.

Thus, the shit rained down on all of them. _Don't underestimate the wrath of a Tran_ , Sam noted for later.

When everything calmed down, Sam made one last go of things. He said, "Isn't there anything, anything we can do – "

"No," Linda interrupted.

Sam regrouped quickly and said, "Okay, then, let's do this smart. We'll get some kind of distress signal for starters, then..."

 

Dean and Sam left the boat feeling defeated. Even more so when they saw Ms. Tran take her son's luggage to her car and drive off with him. 

Dean's phone rang again.

"What the hell man? Who's calling you?" Sam asked.

Dean passed his brother the keys. "You drive."

As they popped into the Impala, Dean answered his phone. "Hey Cas, what's up?"

Sam rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, were were kinda in the middle of it. Cas, no! It wasn't a fight like with guns or whatever. An argument, okay? We'd've called for help if we needed it."

Dean listened to what must have been an extensive angel rant.

"Okay, okay, okay! Cas! Sam and I, we're driving back right now, we'll talk about this when we get back. All right?"

Dean didn't even hide his sigh as he hung up.

Sam smirked, "Is the honeymoon over or what?"

He let the comment go and replied, "Shut up. You'd be pissed too if we stuck you at the bunker and left you there, right?"

Sam wanted to talk about the new Dean-Castiel relationship dynamic, but he bit it back. They hadn't really come to him with the news, and he wanted to give them the chance. 

That, and he wasn't really sure how to approach the topic. What would he say? 'Hey Dean, when did you start dating Cas?' Or 'Dean, shouldn't you introduce me to your new boyfriend?' 

Boyfriend. That sounded weird to Sam. Not because Dean had, to the best of his knowledge, exclusively dated women... that didn't bother him at all. Boyfriend felt weird to Sam as a way to describe Castiel. He was an angel after all. And while they did seem to have gendered identities and even gendered names, angels themselves weren't technically male or female. So did boyfriend really fit?

This particular tract lead Sam to wondering if Cas might pick another vessel, a female vessel, later on. Sam tried to imagine nieces and nephews, and this first made him feel happy, then ridiculous. 

He couldn't help it, he laughed out loud with no provocation.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Oh, nothing," Sam lied.


	3. Bargaining

The Men of Letters Bunker felt like more than just a place where he had his own room. Since Castiel moved in, it became the home Dean never had. If he indulged himself, he would've acknowledged - even if only to himself - that it wasn't the somewhere as much as it was the someone. But Dean didn't indulge; he had shit to do. And when that shit included protecting his family, he didn't do anything till it was done.

Cas was waiting for them in the war room, his usually peaceful expression surly and knotted. 

"What's going on with the Prophet?" Castiel demanded. 

He hadn't meant to be abrupt or pissed off. He spent the better part of the day bored, then worried when Dean didn't pick up. He had become so concerned that he had almost teleported to check on them both. Meanwhile, Dean had reacted as if his concerns were somehow childish. As if he wasn't companion to two people who were constantly beset with supernatural conflicts! Two people who were - resolutely and helplessly - human! 

Castiel stopped and curbed his temper. It wasn't helping.

He asked, "I mean, is Kevin okay?"

"He's going to college," Dean said. "But don't worry, his mom has managed to get a bunch of teenagers to 'protect' him."

"You sound displeased."

"Hunter tweens Cas! They shouldn't be hunting, let alone protecting Kevin. He's got more baggage than anyone!" Dean reflected for a heartbeat. "Except us, I guess."

"You and Sam both hunted as teenagers," Castiel reminded him. "You saved many lives."

"You watched us when we were teenagers?" Sam asked.

"Not me personally, but angels did. They also saw you hunt as children, and you are both still alive."

"How many times have we died?"

"Sam has died – " Castiel stopped. The brothers shared the general expression that he had come to know as 'don't actually answer that.'

"What we mean, Cas, is that our lives aren't what we want for these kids," Dean said. "They should have the chance to be happy."

"You're not happy?" Castiel asked in a way that sounded vulnerable and hurt. It made Sam feel like fleeing the room. 

"I – didn't say that," Dean replied. His response burned out in the wake of Cas's blank stare. "I am happy now, but all the crap we've waded through? Cas, you of all people, you know. Would you inflict the suffering Sam and I have had in our past on other people?"

This seemed to placate the angel. "I see your point."

"Okay, so how do we stop this?" Dean continued.

"You don't," Sam and Cas said at the same time. 

They gave each other looks of absolute surprise. They'd hardly ever agreed with one another, let alone spoken simultaneously. 

"What?" Dean asked. 

"You can't control the Prophet, unless you plan on using a curse, which is ill-advised," Cas said. "And without Crowley trying to kidnap him, he's not in as much danger as before."

"But he's still in some danger."

"Yeah, but we're talking monsters now," said Sam. "They can't just possess people. Hell, some of them you see a mile coming."

Dean imagined a Rugaru and had to agree. "Okay, fine. But what about Leviathan? Shape shifters? Last time we tangled with Eve, she brought out freaking dragons – "

"Eve is not Crowley," Cas interrupted. 

"Obviously. They're both dead, who cares?" Dean asked.

"Crowley always had plans, missions. He wanted more power," said Cas. "When Eve struck, she was just retaliating. Why would she go after Kevin? Why would any monster?"

Sam and Dean had nothing to say.

"Honestly, the angels are more of a threat," Castiel said. "Because of the Angel Tablet. If Kevin translates it, it can put Heaven at risk."

Sam said, "I thought you threw the tablet into the ocean or something."

"Not literally, but yes, the tablet is well-hidden and safe."

"Is that why your frat bro tried to ice you this morning?" Dean asked. "They want the tablet back?"

Cas replied, "I don't think so. They can't find the tablet, and since the demons are gone, the only ones who know about its existence are the Prophet and you two."

"So they don't want the tablet back?" Sam asked.

"They do, but they'd rather have me dead," Cas stated. "The tablet is too well hidden to be found by humans, even you two. It's not a threat to them."

Sam threw Dean a concerned look, but his brother fixed his stare on Cas.

"Cas, where is it?" 

"If I tell you, the angels will target you. The only thing keeping you safe is the secret," he replied. Before the two brothers dug in for a fight, he added, "They can sense your thoughts, visit your dreams. If I tell you, then you'll know, and they'll know."

"You're not worried they'll try to get to you through us?" Sam asked. 

"You closed the Gates of Hell, Sam," Castiel responded. "Retribution from Naomi against your or Dean would be... unpopular. Not to mention wrong."

"Like she's cared about that before?" Dean spat.

"She has done some unpleasant things, but her justification, her intent, worked in her favor. In this case, it wouldn't."

"Freaking angels," Dean muttered. 

Pushing ahead, Sam asked, "Did you figure out how they found you, Cas?"

"I am one of only a handful of angels on earth, and I outrank all but Metatron. So whenever I heal, or teleport, or use any of my powers, I - "

" – you basically send up a spotlight whenever you use your powers, huh?" Dean asked. "Does that include when you, you know, blast monsters or whatever?"

"Unless I am in an area that is shielded from them."

"Like the bunker?" Sam asked.

The angel nodded, yes.

"All right, then I think we can agree, you're on Angel Lock-down," Dean started. "No zapping around crap or anything. You stay right here."

The lights flickered. Sam saw the angel, apoplectic and ready to burst. 

"Or," Sam said, "we can just work on Cas being a little more human in the field."

"What?"

"You know, no healing, no zapping, no smiting... not unless he can zap back here right away," Sam said. "He can come with us, work with us, he'll just have to load up and carry a gun or whatever."

"We are talking about his life," Dean shot at Sam. "You get that, right?"

"I'm right here, Dean," Cas said. 

"I know, it's just – Angel Lock-down is safer."

"Not for you and Sam."

"Damnit, Cas – "

Sam's cell phone rang. He looked at it quizzically, then walked away to answer it, "Hello?"

"Dean, you can't expect me to hide here forever," Cas said.

"I don't, we'll figure it out," Dean assured him. 

"Sam has made a perfectly adequate proposal. I believe it will be effective for preventing – "

" – another assassination attempt on you?" Dean cut him off, bitterly. "No, it's not good enough, Cas. I'm not losing you again."

"And what if I lose you?" the angel asked. "What if Naomi manages to convince angels to go after you to get to me? Or hasn't it occurred to you what will happen to me if you are killed?"

"Cas – " Dean started, quietly, almost humbled by the angel's response. 

"You are not responsible for everything, and you need to be protected just as much as I do," the angel continued. "You don't hide when the people you love are in danger. Do you expect me to?"

Dean felt thoroughly cowed by this. He dropped his forehead on Cas's shoulder and embraced him in an awkward, yet pleasant, hug. "'Course I don't," he said quietly.

Sam waited for the lover's quarrel to die down before returning. 

"What's going on?" Dean asked. 

"They really aren't kidding."

"Who isn't?" 

"Krissy and Josephine... and, oh, what's his name – "

"Aiden," Dean said.

"Right, and Aiden. That was a social worker named Daniel Coopers, and he wants to meet with Sam and Dean Smith about Krissy and Aiden."

Dean's expression became equal parts confusion and annoyance. "Sorry, what?"

"Apparently, they've applied to be emancipated teenagers, and Sam and Dean Smith knew Krissy's dad from work before he died, as well as Victor, their foster father," he said. His voice was stiff, as if he were narrating a particularly lame bedtime story.

"I don't understand," said Castiel.

"Sam and Dean Winchester, Leviathan version, went on a very public cross-country killing spree and were killed, so we had to start new identities," Sam began. "We did know Krissy's dad, till a vampire ripped out his throat."

"Oh, and, ah, Victor, their 'foster father,' he was actually in cahoots with said vampire. He had their families killed so he could make his own little hunter Brady Bunch," Dean said. 

"When the kids found out what he did, he blew his own brains out," Sam finished.

"I see the issue," Cas commented mildly. "What will you do?"

Sam shook his head. "We've a meeting with them tomorrow morning. I say we hit the road and figure it out on the way."

"Wait, what?" Dean stopped. "You said we'd talk to them?"

"Dean, they're going to run off to New Jersey anyway," Sam insisted. "We might as well help them do it legally."

"No way," Dean said. "I'll tank their recommendation if I have to."

"That seems very selfish," Cas said. "You said you wanted their lives to be better than yours. If that is the case, why would you force them into hiding?" 

Dean was too shocked by the idea of Sam and Cas agreeing with each other to respond. 

Cas turned to Sam and asked, "That's what will happen to them if they are not emancipated?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Dean hated himself for hating the Sam-Cas Agreement; after all, they didn't have the best history together. Still, how could Sam do this to him? No, wait, how could Cas do this to him? 

"Then we should help them," said Cas. Suddenly another thought occurred to him, "And you should teach me how to drive soon."

"Later," Sam replied to Cas, when he realized Dean's brain was too busy figuring out what just happened to speak. "Let's get packed."


	4. Emancipation

Sam, Dean, and Castiel stayed in two single-bed rooms that night. The younger Winchester explained that they were the only rooms available in a motel that took cash. Dean didn't question it, being too tired from teaching Castiel how to behave as a human lookout for them, and the angel didn't want to question it, because he looked forward to spending the night visible. Too often he watched the brothers sleep in motel rooms, hidden and unsleeping. Now he didn't have to pace, or to watch, he could be with Dean... with no explanations to Sam.

Indeed, Sam didn't even ask where Cas would stay. He just grabbed his bag and went to his room with a quick goodnight.

Cas carried Dean's bag and dropped it in the room as he cleaned up from the road trip. He had insisted Cas change into sleepwear at night, so he put on the bright red pajama bottoms that Dean selected at the store. They were adorned with small black Scotty dogs. 

Dean came out of the bathroom in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms and stopped short at the sight of Cas in nothing more than a pair of rolled up, Scotty-dog pants. 

Cas looked down at his clothing, wondering if he had put it on incorrectly. 

"What is it?" he asked.

A smirk crept up Dean's cheeks. For a moment he said nothing, but then, "You look really good."

"Is that a bad thing?" Cas asked, tilting his head slightly. 

This tightened Dean's expression even more. As he moved closer, he lowered his voice, "It's a great thing, Cas."

The angel initiated a kiss, which quickly and pleasantly began to blossom into more, until - 

"Stop," Castiel said.

"Stop?" 

"If I – if we explode light bulbs here..." 

"...the angels will spot you," Dean finished miserably. 

"I'm sorry," Cas said. 

Dean turned to his bag and pulled out a large piece of plastic. It had an angel-blocking sigil cut into it, like a giant stencil. 

"Give me a minute, I'll cover us up." 

"That won't be enough," Castiel said. "If... there are disturbances, the angels will see them, and if they can't see into this room, they'll – "

" – I get it," Dean said, resigning himself and putting the sigil-stencil away. 

Cas climbed into bed. He didn't need to sleep, but it was nice, pleasant even, to lie next to Dean as he slept. Dean joined him and put his head on Cas's chest. 

"This sucks," Dean grumbled.

Embarrassment was the worst feeling for Cas. It's like his insides were given their own free will and twisted up and moved about however they wanted. 

"Sorry, I can just – "

" – no, no," Dean said. "Not you. Not this. I mean... this."

"I don't understand. Do you want me to go?"

Dean said, "Stay..." It sounded like he had more to say, but he didn't elaborate. Instead, he took one of Castiel's hands and curled up. He didn't let go until he fell asleep. 

His angel watched over him.

 

The meeting was at the Rolling Diner, a little fifties-style place on the main street of a small town in Kansas. Dean and Sam both dressed in semi-professional clothes under the guise of traveling salesmen. As agreed, Cas went in first and took a table asking for, "Just a cup'o coffee." 

The social workers arrived next, and shortly after, Sam and Dean joined them. 

"Daniel Coopers," the male social worker said.

"Dakota Gage," the female social worker said. "Please, call me Dodge. Nice to meet you."

"I gotta ask," Dean started. "I know that they're applying to be emancipated or whatever, but – "

"How does this work?" Daniel finished the question. 

"Yes," Sam agreed. 

"There're a number of factors at play, and a background check and interviews are important... especially people like teachers and family friends," Dodge explained. 

"Well, Krissy's a great kid... a lot of leadership potential," Sam said. "So how can we help?" 

Daniel said, "We have a few questions."

Thus ensued an incredibly awkward, yet well-traversed conversation about Krissy, Josephine, and Aiden. Cas listened intently, and while he hadn't mastered human conversation, he sensed it was going well. 

Then Castiel had a peculiar feeling. Had he been better versed in these matters, he'd've said it felt like his hair stood on end. Something was very wrong. This feeling haunted him until Sam and Dean shook goodbye with Dodge and Daniel. 

Sam went to the bathroom, and, with no subtlety, Daniel followed him. Dodge and Dean, meanwhile, both departed to their respective cars. 

With the same hard-to-define feeling nagging him, Cas went to check on Sam. It was an excellent move on the angel's part.

As Cas entered, Sam flew across the bathroom, crashing headlong into the wall. 

He looked up at Cas and sputtered, "Shifter... silver..."

Too late. Daniel tackled Cas to the floor, tapping into some kind of super-strength and nearly breaking his arm. The fight between the two of them was vicious. Cas wailed on the shifter, sloughing off sections of its skin. The angel found it difficult to maintain control in the increasingly slippery situation. 

Sam pulled himself up, ready to help, but Cas gave up on being human and grabbed the shifter's head. The creature's eyes flamed up and his body collapsed.

POP! The old man from the parking lot appeared. "Castiel, thought you'd be a bit more careful since yesterday. Glad you weren't!" 

Tamandriel reminded Sam of Zachariah, and he didn't like it. 

Rushing headlong at Castiel, Tamandriel grabbed him and crashed them both into bathroom mirrors, shaking the entire diner. Clearly, Tamandriel knew martial arts. He put Castiel in a vicious rear chokehold and knocked out his knee, gaining access to the angel blade Cas kept under his trench coat.

Sam smashed his elbow into Tamandriel's face and knocked his fist into the angel's inner arm in a tackle, forcing him drop the weapon. Quickly, Cas shot a leg lift to the groin that set him free of the chokehold. Sam grabbed the blade's hilt and heaved it diagonally through the assailant's stomach. 

A brilliant light, then burnt wings across the room.

"Unbelievable," Cas said as if it were a curse. 

Taking one hand, the angel pushed Sam out of the way, healing him and cleaning up his cloths. 

"I'll move the bodies elsewhere... and return to the bunker. Please tell Dean I'm sorry."

POP! Cas and the bodies were gone, leaving the bathroom worse for the ware. It dawned on Sam that more angels could be on the way, so he left as quickly as he could without drawing attention.

 

To say the ride home was uncomfortable would be putting it mildly. Dean kept grimacing, yet he bit back the usual 'I told you so.' That was what Sam found most disturbing. 

"So, you aren't going to say it?" he tempted. 

"Say what? That this sucks? Fine, I'll say it, this sucks."

"No, I mean..." Sam said. Truth was, he wasn't sure how to approach the topic. "Let's just... talk about the angel in the room here."

"What?"

"Instead of elephant, the angel," said Sam. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he was there to help, he saved my ass, but we could've run, you know?"

"That's why I wanted to put him on Angel Lock-down," Dean replied. "I know that's not gonna work. Wouldn't work on you'r'me. We can't expect it to work on him."

Sam waited, just in case his brother decided it was time to man up and admit the obvious. When that didn't happen, he began, "This isn't just about teaching him to fight and shoot and run. We have to make him a hunter, full human style, and, Dean, you need to find a way to rein him in."

Dean laughed. "Sam, the guy's a freaking angel of the lord, how do you expect me to rein his ass in?"

Throwing all pretense to the wind, Sam said, "He's your boyfriend, Dean, that's how!"

The screech of wheels filled the billowing silence. Dean stopped the Impala in the middle of the road. 

"That's not... we're... Sam..." Dean started, his voice oddly quiet given the situation. He closed his eyes and shook his head. 

"You, what, didn't expect me to notice? Dean, you haven't slept with a woman in almost a year, and even when you're flirting it's like when you were with Lisa, it's all just for show."

A full minute passed in silence. Dean stared ahead, like his wheels were cranking but he wasn't getting anywhere. 

"Then you and Castiel disappear for a 'day off' somewhere and won't tell me where, come on Dean, I see the way you two look at each other. They way you are around each other, or have been for... forever, it feels like. I just don't understand why you didn't tell me."

Dean put the car in park and leaned back in his seat. He stared at the roof of the car. 

"Did you think I'd be, what, upset? That'd I'd care he was a guy? Or an angel?"

"I don't know," said Dean. Then he started speaking at lightning speed. "Because it's... we've both been... We met when he yanked my ass outa hell, Sam. Then the seals, the apocalypse, that Eve bitch, damn Leviathans, and... and then Purgatory, then Naomi – "

"I get it," Sam interrupted. "It hasn't been easy."

"No, Sam, it's been impossible, and it still is."

"But you're together now?" Sam asked. 

"We haven't... talked about it," Dean finished lamely. "What does it matter?"

"Well, first of all, it matters because you're my brother," Sam snapped. "And second of all, because he is an angel, and we can't make him do anything. Not as humans. But as his boyfriend, you can – "

" – don't say it like that," Dean interjected. 

"Okay, you prefer... what, lover?"

"What? Hell, hell no!" Dean replied. "Seriously, Sam, no."

"What then?"

"Cas," Dean said. "Can't we just call him Cas?"

"Right," Sam replied. "Are we going to sit here all night?"

Dean shifted the car back in gear and drove off. It was several minutes before he said, "Partner."

"Sorry, what?" he asked. 

"Partner," repeated Dean.

Sam went over their last conversation. "Instead of boyfriend?"

"Yeah." 

"I guess I figured you'd find that a little too, you know," Sam searched for the right word but finally just blurted, "Gay."

"It's better than lover," Dean said. "A freaking thousand times better."


	5. A Little More Human

Garth accompanied Linda and Kevin Tran to Kansas, "Fer old times sake."

Aiden, Krissy, and Josephine were packed and ready to go when Garth pulled up.

"Wow," Kevin said. "Other people. Real people. Well, almost-real people."

"Don't fret, they're real," Garth said. He smiled at Kevin through the rearview mirror. 

"Well, they're hunters," Kevin replied. "But they have lives outside of stabbing monsters and hanging out with angels. That's nice."

"Josephine seems really smart," Linda said. 

"She goes by Jo," Garth said. With that, he popped the trunk and got out of the car, waving them over. "You ready already?"

Jo nodded as she tossed two bags in Garth's trunk. She said, "I'll be driving the car Victor left us, but we packed it so much it can only fit one passenger. 

"Me!" Kevin shouted out the window. "Shotgun!"

"Yeah, all right," Jo replied with a smile.

 

The Impala rolled up to its special hideaway outside the Men of Letters Bunker. Dean hadn't said a word to Sam since the day before, when he tersely agreed that stopping at a hotel would be better than driving through the night.

Sam broke the silence. "I'm going to see what I can dig up about that shifter. Was he after us or Krissy, you know?"

Dean didn't reply.

Sam continued, "Are you going to talk to Cas?" He waited a few seconds before adding, "Like, now?"

"Fine, Sam."

Before Sam could stop his brother, he got out of the car and stamped over to the bunker.

Sam quickly thought up a list of reasons to excuse himself from the vicinity. He decided to head out for a beer, but then realized that Dean had taken the keys.

 

Dean hated the entire situation. He tried to recollect what it was like when things were simpler, before his feelings for Castiel changed. He remembered how hard it was to forgive the angel when he broke Sam's brain; he must have loved Cas then. That's why he took the betrayal so hard. 

But that didn't make sense. Dean didn't love Cas for breaking Sam's head. No, he must've loved him before that.

Why was this so difficult?

He pushed his way into the bunker, stuck in his own head. He stopped at the smell of... bacon? Yes, he definitely smelled bacon.

"Hi," Cas said from the war room. 

The angel had set the table with three plates of bacon and eggs. Sam must've gotten around to showing Cas how to use the frying pan.

"Hi... how did you..?" Dean began.

"Sam called when you were an hour away, so I thought I'd try to cook," Cas replied. 

Sam came in behind Dean. 

"I made some for you, too, Sam," the angel said.

"Actually, I've gotta look into this shifter. You know, figure out why he was there. Library's still open, but I need the keys," Sam said.

"Dude, the Men of Letters have better books than the library," Dean replied.

"Do they have social worker records from this century?"

"Fine, but don't ding her," Dean said as he tossed Sam the keys.

"But I made some for you, too," Cas said to Sam.

"Thanks, Cas. Dean can have my bacon. Call me if you need me."

He left as quickly as he could without actually running.

With that, Dean walked down to the table. "So you just, made some bacon?" he inquired.

"I thought you'd be upset over the outcome of our last trip."

"You think?" 

"And I thought it would be a good way to show you that I can be... a little more human," Cas said. He ended the statement lamely, like he wasn't sure the phrase was right. "I just need some practice."

Just like that, all the agitation that had built up in Dean's brain, that had radiated down into his body, melted away. A few words and the smell of bacon were all he needed.

"Look, Cas, I just helped Krissy and the other tween hunters move across the freaking country so they could take a shot at a normal life, even if it's not safe."

"You don't sound happy."

"I'm not. But, she is. They are. And until they're not, I'm gonna let'em be."

Cas's smile brimmed over his face. His usual blank stare lit up with it.

"But Cas, man, this is my limit, okay? I can't take too much more of it."

The words themselves said very little, but implicitly the angel understood, "You mean you want me to stay here, all the time." 

"I know – " 

" – I can do that," Cas cut Dean off. "At least for a week or two. Tamandriel found me the second time because he was keeping a close watch."

"Letting the trail go cold? I like it. But what about after that?"

Castiel didn't respond; instead, he insisted that Dean sit and eat. The food wasn't half bad. 

"I don't want you to be on Angel Lock-down," Dean said. "I want you on the road with us, it's just..."

"I understand." 

"Okay, so, training regimen... close quarter combat, like my dad taught me, marksmanship, the whole nine. As long as we're hold up here for a week, we might as well put that time to good use, right?"

"I did have one other project in mind," Cas said. 

"More important that this?"

"I – uh... no, but, we talked about it... making a room with nothing to explode," he replied. He suddenly felt embarrassed. Perhaps Dean no longer held interest in constructing the 'safe sex' room they discussed.

However, Dean had cottoned on quickly to Cas's suggestion, and any doubts the angel had were erased by the smile that turned up on his face. 

"You're right, that'll be a good project."

 

Sam sat happily, eating a salad without snide comments about rabbit food, a novel experience since living with Dean at the bunker.

On an off chance, Sam called the office of Daniel Coopers, and the man actually picked up his phone.

"Coopers," rasped the man's voice.

"Hi, is this Daniel Coopers?"

"Yes, it is. How can I help you?"

"Did you ask me to meet with you?" Sam asked. 

"Sorry?"

"My name is Sam Smith, and I got a call about a meeting. You and another social worker wanted to talk to me about a teen emancipation, I think?"

"That's odd," Daniel interrupted.

"What?"

"I do work teen emancipation cases, sure, but I don't have the name Sam Smith down anywhere. You know who set the date?"

"You know, I don't remember," Sam lied quickly. He hadn't expected Daniel Coopers to be real or alive. "But it must've been a mistake, right?"

"Sorry about that, I can check – "

"No, you know, that's fine. Thank you for your time." 

Sam hung up.

What kind of shifter doesn't take out the guy he's replacing? And if he's alive and answering his phone, why didn't the other social worker, the woman, figure it out?

He moved on to coffee and desert when something caught his eye. As if coming to answer his question, the woman he had met earlier, Dodge, glided over to his table and sat across from him.

"Dodge?" Sam's eyes glanced around to see if she had any friends with her. She didn't. 

"Glad you remember me."

"What are you -"

" – doing here?" she finished. "Well, for one thing, you're name isn't Sam Smith."

Sam did his best poker face. "Does that mean you're not a social worker?"

"I'm not. Daniel Coopers is, though, so it wasn't all a lie. You didn't actually meet him today, but I'm guessing, since the man with me didn't return to the car, you already knew that. For future reference, emancipation doesn't – "

"What do you want from me?" Sam interrupted.

"Relax, I'm not your enemy," she replied. She discreetly pushed something in front of him: an FBI Badge. A real FBI badge. "My name is Special Agent Dakota Gage, but like I said before, most people call me Dodge. And we have so much to talk about, Sam Winchester."


End file.
